Arthur Hastings
Arthur Hastings is one of three playable characters in We Happy Few. During early Alpha, he was the only character available. During the beginning stages of the game, we find that Arthur had a brother named Percival whom he referred to as "Percy." We learn in a flashback that an error during World War II got Arthur stuck behind when the trains headed out of England, and Percy ended up going to an unknown fate while he was on the train. History Very little is known about Arthur's history. When the Germans arrived, Percy and Arthur worked together to try to undermine them. At one point, Percy and Arthur burned documents that the occupying German forces needed for the 'Authority' Project, but they're efforts were in vain. Their actions led to the people of Wellington Wells summarily executing three townspeople accused of doing so to appease the Germans. When he was fourteen, he was going to be drafted into the Authority Project, but since they weren't accepting anyone over 13, he was rejected and his brother was set instead. In truth, he impersonated Percy to avoid going on the train, as Percy was too old and Arthur was 13, and he used Percy's ID to sell the lie to the Constable. Like many of the people of Wellington Wells, Arthur has problems with long-term memory, due to taking joy as well as the guilt he feels for betraying Percy. However, he remembers several individuals from his past, most notably Sally Boyle (a childhood friend) and Ollie Starkey (a former neighbour). Events of We Happy Few Act One The Parade District, and a Chance at Redemption At the start of the game, Arthur is employed by the authorities in the town. His job is to go through the town's newspaper records, censoring out any stories that may adversely affect the town's happiness. Arthur comes across a Newspaper article about the two winning a scrap gathering prize and starts to remember his brother, obviously upsetting Arthur. Players are then asked to decide whether to remember the story and not take Joy (the in-game "happy pill") or forget and take the pill. Players who choose to take the pill, soon find themselves staring at the end game credits. If the player refuses to take the pill, he encounters Victoria Byng, who instructs Arthur to come to a party. On the way, he encounters an abandoned room and a doctor forcing a worker to take Joy. When he arrives at the party, he witnesses the other hit a "piñata”. He joins in and realizes what they were hitting wasn't a "piñata”, it was a rat. After Arthur refuses to eat its entrails, Victoria realizes he is a downer and Arthur is captured by the Bobbies. He wakes up in the sewers of the war-ravaged England, and this is where his story kicks in. The Garden District, and Encountering Ollie Arthur wakes up in the maintenance tunnels beneath Wellington Wells and exits out of them into the Garden District. He plans to escape Wellington Wells to find Percy by getting a Letter of Transit and exiting through the Parade District via underground tunnels. He goes through many tasks, including fighting in an arena, fetching medals, and crafting a torn up suit. He eventually meets Ollie Starkey again for the first time in years at the Cathedral, and Ollie, who doesn't recognize Arthur at first and has begun to lose his mind, attacks Arthur until Arthur manages to get through to him. Ollie tasks Arthur with helping him infiltrate the Head Boys' camp by turning off the power in order to rob them. Arthur sets out to do this, while beginning to remember his past. When infiltrating the Military Camp, Arthur climbs a shed roof overlooking the abandoned German tanks in the camp. A spotlight sees him and he jumps onto one of the tanks only to go through it. This is when he discovers that the tanks in the camp were nothing but fakes placed there by the Germans to deter any sort of rebellion during the occupation. He later brings this up with Ollie stating that they could've fought the Germans had they'd known that the Germans didn't really have tanks. He also realizes that he lied his way off of the train and left Percy all alone. He then reminds Ollie of their deal, and though Ollie initially laughs off his plea, he decides to give him a piece of machinery to use as an excuse to enter Maidenholm. Arthur then passes a quiz at the bridge into the district, and is welcomed by the populace. The Maidenholm District, and Meeting Sally Arthur traverses Maidenholm, completing tasks for different people. He eventually runs into Sally Boyle, who is excited to see him. She notices that he is off his Joy, and he says that he remembered Percy While the beginning of their reunion is initially friendly, when Sally offers to get a Letter of Transit for Arthur from General Byng, Arthur becomes cold and hateful, and is angry about something she did while living in his house. Arthur then tries to apologize, but Sally leaves, but not before telling where to find her (at home). Arthur continues to solve his problems through various means, most often through lying and manipulation. He also re-encounters the Constable in a police station, but doesn't fully recognize him, and instead has pieces of memories return to him. Eventually completing tasks such as locating a Bobby's identification at a sex club and helping Doctor Faraday out where she is imprisoned, Arthur eventually goes to see Sally in her home, where he apologizes for his actions, though still expresses his anger at her. She tells him to get a bottle of cod liver oil for her in exchange for a Letter of Transit from Byng, to which Arthur harshly agrees. She then kisses him, causing Arthur to flee in fear of what it could lead to. This quest leads him to Anton Verloc's lab, which is in a state of chaos, and Arthur discovers that Verloc plans to essentially lobotomize (Arthur's words) the population of Wellington Wells with an even stronger version of Joy, which will drive people insane. Arthur attempts to throw his own chemical at him in order to destroy his mind, but Verloc electrocutes him and escapes. Returning to Sally, Arthur gives her the cod liver oil, but from the way she acts, assumes that she sent him on a pointless quest for a souvenir. He then brings out into the open how Sally had sex with Arthur's father (in his mother's bed), and Sally sadly gives him the Letter of Transit. Arthur then sadly states that she was the only person really innocent in all of their troubles. He then offers to take her with him, to which she agrees, but says that they'll have to leave at dawn because she needs to get some affairs in order. Arthur decides to leave without her, hastily saying that it's nothing personal. The Parade District, and Arthur's Escape and Regret Arthur enters the Parade District, which is far more advanced than the rest of Wellington Wells, and goes about various tasks to get out of the city, from modelling to fixing machines for an engineer. Arthur eventually breaks into the Joy Doctors' hospital, causing a riot among the patients. With the letter in hand, Arthur fights and flees his way through the tunnels, which are being mined out. He manages to make it to the bridge, finally believing that he has just used Percy as an excuse because he wasn't strong-willed enough to escape for himself. There, Arthur encounters the Constable, who, upon removing his mask (stating that it's itchy), is recognized by Arthur, and he finally sees what he had forgotten. Arthur remembers using Percy's ID to trick the suspicious Constable into allowing him to stay in Wellington Wells, all while Percy is kicking and screaming as guards escort him onto the train, calling out to Arthur. Back in the present, Arthur grieves over his brother that he betrayed, and the Constable tells him that they've all done terrible things, and states that while Arthur can't be forgiven for what he's done, he should consider it a gift that he even has his memories. The Constable then begins to escort Arthur across the bridge. Act 2 Arthur is encountered by Sally at the same location as in Act One, but from Sally's perspective, several things go differently, chief among them Arthur storming off instead of staying to apologize. Sally later encounters him out in the wastes, sitting on a swing set. Their second conversation is almost identical to the one from Arthur's perspective, with, again, some slight differences, including Arthur being harsher and less forgiving. Finally, in Sally's last encounter with him, things go similarly as before but Sally, rather than Arthur, suggests that they leave Wellington Wells together. Arthur, initially excited by this, gets upset when Sally tells him that they have to wait, and as Arthur abandons her, she reveals that she has a baby, but Arthur brushes this shocking statement off and leaves. Act 3 Arthur is only encountered in the final cut-scene with Ollie here, but from Ollie's perspective. Things are almost perfectly identical, but with several slight dialogue differences, and Ollie immediately helping Arthur. Epilogue As Arthur and the Constable walk across the bridge, Arthur continues to hear Percy crying out, and upon questioning from the Constable, Arthur laments how heinous he truly is. The Constable notes that some people are better prepared to handle the truth and the guilt that comes with it, and offers Arthur some Joy that will make him forget everything. Should Arthur accept, he forgets presumably the events of the game and goes back to Wellington Wells, and can be seen playing on playground equipment in a dilapidated and overgrown area. If Arthur refuses, the Constable puts away the joy and allows Arthur to finish his journey on his own. Arthur can then be seen saying "Lovely day for it!" to various plants and rocks, and then encounters a boy with a ball, who Arthur tries the same greeting with. The boy swears at him and tells him that it's been raining all day, and that tonight will be bad too. Arthur, with a smile on his face, then states to the boy, "You're right. It has been rather a shit day." Abilities Out of the three characters, Arthur has the most well-balanced build for either combat or stealth. He can craft any of the basic tools from workbenches or chem labs, can wield any weapon he can make or find, and can even have no conditions that negatively affect him if the player gets the skill, Tireless for him. Two of his abilities are simply cosmetic and the other two are positive ones: * Odd Man Out: Defensive and Sarcastic. * English: Repressed. * Swift: Runs quite fast. Walks and runs faster than any other character. * Unremarkable: Can hide in plain sight, e.g. on benches, if not in line of sight of angry people. His other abilities in Combat, Stealth, and Super-Duper all focus on both combat and stealth. Combat allows Arthur to have stronger hits, gain more health and defense, or even give him the upper hand with stunning enemies or breaking their own weapons when he blocks at the right time. Stealth allows him to be more hidden by having devices such as Spankers and Peepers not see him and can smother sleeping enemies when trespassing but this applies to other characters as well. Super-Duper lets him get more health back from healing items, carry more things and be less burdened if he carries too much, carry corpses faster, and not have the negative drawbacks of hunger, thirst, and exhaustion. Trivia *According to Red Cutty at the beginning of Possibly Heinous Package quest, Arthur is tall 6 ft. (=1.83 m). *He got his suit from his uncle Norton. *The cutscenes that he and Sally share are experienced differently depending on who the player is playing at the moment. In Arthur's perspective, he will meet Sally in the Village and give her the cod liver oil in her home; in Sally's perspective, she will meet Arthur in the Village as well but she will meet him again in the Garden when he's on a swing to give him the Letter of Transit. Category:Characters Category:Playable Characters Category:Downer